Institution Building in Central and Eastern Europe: Foreign Influences and Domestic Responses

Abstract

In this article, the author discusses how and to what extent external influences (i.e., actors, resources, norms and administrative models) have affected institutional reform in Central and Eastern Europe, a region that for centuries has been dominated by foreign powers. The article demonstrates: (a) how three aspects of governments of the so-called transition countries—administrative and cultural traditions, political leadership and reform management—affect the extent to which these countries are penetrated by outside influence or profit from external assistance in the area of public administration; and (b) how policies/institutional models may be transferred across nations and cultures in different ways and how various modalities of transfer may shape the impact of foreign involvement.